Was Jesus Homely?

There was a piece in a Times Union blog written by high school student Allison Moss a few weeks ago, addressing the question “Was Jesus Gay?” This was based on something singer Elton John reportedly said. Well, Jesus Christ Superstar suggests that he (or He) was bisexual. Of course, as much as I adore JCSS, I never considered it theologically authoritative.

It was that question that prompted me to visit the notion, “Was Jesus homely?” As I understand it, we really have no idea about the physical characteristics of Jesus. He was apparently not depicted in art until decades after walking the earth. Looking in the Bible, there appears to be no description whatsoever, except an interpretation of Isaiah 53:2, which says, “He has no form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him”. If this is in fact referring to Jesus, and the subsequent verses of the chapter are used in Messiah (Handel) as Jesus verses, then this Jesus fellow was rather plain-looking.

There’s a lengthy Wikipedia description about the depictions of Jesus, which I don’t treat as gospel either, but it IS interesting. My favorite section is on this point: “But when the pagan Celsus ridiculed the Christian religion for having an ugly God in about 180, Origen (d. 248) cited Psalm 45:3: ‘Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, mighty one, with thy beauty and fairness.’ Later the emphasis of leading Christian thinkers changed; Jerome (d. 420) and Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) argued that Jesus must have been ideally beautiful in face and body. For Augustine he was ‘beautiful as a child, beautiful on earth, beautiful in heaven’.” So humans, using their own sensibilities, created the appearance of Jesus in their own image of what he (or He) must have looked like. The beard and long hair was copped, ironically, from the image of competing “gods”.

In other words, early depictions of Jesus suggested that He was plain-looking, but other religionists stuck their thumbs in their ears, wiggled their fingers, and chimed in a sing-songy voice, “Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah, nyah, nyah, your God is ugly!” So Christians made THEIR manifestation of God look more like OTHER people’s manifestation of the gods. Given the Biblical directive way back in Genesis that God made humans in God’s image, it seems as though people feel compelled to return the favor.

Theologically, it would make more sense to me if Jesus was less than handsome. It is now well documented that tall, handsome people fare better in social interactions than others. What would be the theological point if Jesus were physically appealing? One might ask if people were following Him for shallow reasons based on His countenance rather than for his message.
When images of “black Jesus” became popular four or five decades in some households, people were shocked, SHOCKED. “THAT’S not what Jesus looked like!” Maybe, maybe not. He probably looked more like that than this, given the geography:

I think this Time magazine cover is a fairly accurate representation of what Christ, and indeed Christianity, looks like; it depends on the point of view.

Rog-
Great job with this. Does anyone realize that He (Christ) came out of Palestine, the Arab/Israeli geography? He was probably short, with dark eyes and dark hair. Those dark eyes can be riveting, at least that is my experience among Southern Italians and Sicilians who acqknowledge their Arabic features (acquired through centuries of conquest…).
We need more and better history teachers.
Have a great Holy Week.

Yo Roger! I am a (retired) librarian. Don’t you have more important things to comtemplate during Holy Week. Sounds as though you are trying very hard to be controversial and not succeeding very well. Keep reaching….meanwhile make yourself useful: go shelve some Dewey decimal books.

Shirley, what is the matter with you ? I am actually curious as to what your issue is with Roger’s piece ? Do you actually beleive Jesus was a tall blonde blue eyed man with a perfect European nose ? If so there is a bridge in Brooklyn I would love to show you .

Zoe for many of us this is Holy Week. I resent the questions mentioned above. Jesus was crucified and died for us…He was both divine and human. Would you like it if someone asked if your relative was ugly?

All kidding aside Shirley and those who don’t seem to like my attitude on religion. As long as I live and breath, I will never respect anyone who glorifies alcohol, since it’s inception, proven to be without a doubt, the worlds most dangerous and deadly drug. How many more innocent lives have to be surrendered to this crap before it’s laid to rest along with it’s creators. We can only hope that someday a generation will come along that will stand up to people like you and your imagination. Jesus Christ was simply a human being of this earth. He was real and his problem was real. See what’s in front of you and stop leading the children into a life of fear for absolutly no reason.

Yo iktim (#13)! I knowwhereyouarecomingfrom. However, most if not all cultures believe in a higher or spiritual being and/or world. I believe, and what do I know compared to iknowtruthismine, humans have a need to find, define or make up their orign. Where did I come from? Is there a hierarchy above me? It seems to be a universal question. I am not as disturbed by this as you. I have read your posts over the past 2 years. You dislike Christians because of their belief in Jesus/God. What about non-Christians and their beliefs? Unlike iknowthetruththewholetruthandnothingbutthetruthsohelpmegod, I am more concerned about Christians’ behavior based upon their beliefs. Most of the Christians I know are good or better people because of their belief in God. Is there a God? I don’t know. I was raised Roman Catholic. I now attend a Protestant church. Do I believe in a higher Being? I don’t know. But I do believe in Jesus’ teachings even though I still don’t follow or adhere to each one. I try. Point is: If believing in Jesus makes for a better person, then Go For It. Iknowtruthismine isahyprocrite (evenifitisallametaphor). GoDukeintheNCAAbasketballtournament. Truth is: CoachKisGod.

Last set of comments for this day:
Tom-I don’t believe I am “going to hell” because I point out that the traditional imagery of Jesus may be suspect. Part of the theology I grew up with when I was a Methodist says one should use:
* Scripture – the Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments)
* Tradition – the two millennia history of the Christian Church
* Reason – rational thinking and sensible interpretation
* Experience – a Christian’s personal and communal journey in Christ
I was using my reason and experience, along with a smidgen of Scripture, which seems to contradict tradition. So be it.

Rocky – Re: “Don’t you have more important things to comtemplate during Holy Week?” Well, actually no. Who IS this person who died on the cross? Curious minds want to know, not just accept blindly. And the link you kindly provided goes to the point I was making.
Was I trying to be controversial? Well, I wanted to have a title that would compel someone to read the piece, but the content was what I was thinking about, quite possibly as a result of a Bible study. What you think you know about me, what’s in my heart, you don’t.
And our library uses Library of Congress, not Dewey.

Rog-
Never saw all this coming. What’s up with Joe and Jane Average American?
Keep up the good work.
Have you been to the Bishop’s Office (N. Main) to see the art work based on the Stations of the Cross? I’m going to seee it this afternoon.
Have a good, holy week and a Blessed Easter.

Shirley and Roger are both missing the point. “Ugly” is in the eye of the beholder; no two people will define it identically. In order to NOT be “ugly” by Shirley and/or Roger’s definition, would Jesus have to look ideally European and tall? If we’re all created in the image of god, then any and all appearances of the corporeal god are possible, and no possibilities would be an insult. Jesus could have been any color, male or female, gay or straight, crippled or ablebodied, whatever…it makes no difference. Those who believe in the Christian god should stop imposing their petty prejudices on god’s image – if in fact they do believe. Insistence on anything else is simply prejudiced, which presumably the Christian god’s philosophy would not endorse.

Bob- Perhaps I was unclear. there were people long time ago who determined what our image of Jesus was. Some were idealized to what we see now. I can make the case that if Jesus’ look did not meet a certain standard of attractiveness, he might have well been regarded as handsome by those around him by virtue of the fact that he had a beautiful persona. Aren’t your friends more handsome than other people, even if, by some subjective level, they are not?

Man, the black Jesus is way hotter than the white one. (Donna ducks the stones hurtled her way for such sacrilege.) That said, I’ve always thought he looked pretty danged good as portrayed.

“Surely, what Tom or Andrew say is not a threat to your beliefs.” As an Atheist, I want to thank you for that. You demonstrate strong belief. Whenever I run into someone who purports to believe in god but who gets defensive as if my nonbelief is a threat to their belief, I think you have no more faith than I do; if you did, you wouldn’t feel threatened by my absence thereof. After all, what threat am I a puny human to god?

I also wonder why they don’t trust him enough to leave judgement up to who they are supposed to leave it to.